The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Chapter 127

When Christopher’s father comes home, he jokingly says “Howdy, Pardner” to Christopher. Christopher knows it is a joke but does not understand it. What might impact Christopher’s lack of humour have on his ability to connect with others?

Asked by
Cynthia M #417865
on 1/18/2015 4:25 AM

Last updated by
Aslan
on 1/18/2015 4:53 AM

Answers
1

Chris feels isolated throughout the book. Much of his isolation stems from his lack of connectivity with other people. Humor is a concept,perhaps, limited to people. It is complex and demands parts of the brain work in a particular way. Chris's brain just does not work like that. Humor is a very difficult concept to grasp for the autistic brain. Most people connect through the subtleties of humor; Chris just does not filter humor in the same way as any of us.